


First Sight

by Argyle



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Cerebro, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-19
Updated: 2011-08-19
Packaged: 2017-10-22 19:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argyle/pseuds/Argyle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all the minds Charles has touched today, here's the one that shines the brightest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Sight

Charles can't help himself.

He is, as they say, a boy with a toy.

And _what_ a triumphant new toy Cerebro proves to be: it delivers on every promise of enhancing his abilities, and more. By Hank's design, Charles stretches his telepathic reach by twenty-fold, and within minutes he begins to touch each mutant within an exponentially grown swath. Behind every whorl of shadow there is life, ruddy and delightful.

It's so _good_.

Twenty minutes pass; it feels like more. Charles is transported, and the energetic pulse of his own mind cloaks the surrounding din, the printer's jangly dot-scrawl and Hank's occasional, surprised whoops fading in turn. Charles' head thrums with it.

A while later, and he's utterly exhausted. But coming down is hard. Regaining balance takes time.

Charles sees the curve of the wall, the grated floor, the bank of buzzing reel-to-reels, and he tells himself that these things are not blunted, but normal. Before him, Raven puzzles over the stack of fanfolded paper. She's amazed by what it will mean for them, for their kind. She's also frightened: _You can't be everything to everyone_.

But suddenly, that's what he's sensing, just then.

Of all the minds he's touched today, here's the one that shines the brightest. Cerebro amplifies its presence, but doesn't augment it -- there isn't a need. It's Erik, only.

 _You know to stay out of my head._

That was only half a day ago. And yet-- Erik had stayed.

With Cerebro, Charles cannot help but see himself as Erik sees him -- not monstrous, but mighty, newly-minted, possessed of strength and fullness. And beneath that, there's something else. Erik's eyes on Charles' hands, his throat. The sight of Charles' open mouth, and the thought that Erik would like to taste him, once, if Charles would allow it. Erik wonders what it would mean for Charles to enter his mind, and stay there. Beyond admittance, he longs to be _known_.

Oh, but Charles saw. He felt it, before. He shakes with it.

"Charles! Are you well?"

Charles waits as the helmet lifts off him. And then: "Yes."

"You seemed-- _taken_ ," says Erik. His grip on the rail hasn't loosened; his hand is so close to Charles'. He has misgivings about Cerebro: if it must exist, it must be theirs alone. He doesn't trust Hank, but that Charles does is for the moment enough.

Of course, Charles trusts himself. He long ago aligned the boundaries of his power and set his limits, but he is prepared to take this to the badlands. Even a moment in Erik's company was enough to betray that Erik is something altogether new. He's worth working at: a fine quarry, a test of Charles' wit.

And so too does Charles long to know Erik.

Still staring up at him, agape, Erik presses, "Well, was there some discovery?"

"The future is ever-brighter," says Charles, a little breathlessly. This needn't be a struggle. He smiles. "Come, my friend. We have much to talk about."

Charles catches a flash of hesitation from Erik. But just as quickly, it's gone.


End file.
